The Mythos of Science
by romancing-the-moon
Summary: Walter creates a chimera. The crew is horrified, but it's kinda cute and likes bacon.


Back with precious cargo, Peter and Astrid turned down the strangely-deserted hallway in search of Walter's lab.

"You okay with that, Astrid?"

"Yup, I've got it," she replied as she juggled a bag of confectionaries in one hand and a tray of coffees in the other.

"Oh. Wonderful," Peter said, stopping suddenly in front of her.

"What? What's wrong?" She asked, trying to regain her balance. Peter stopped so suddenly that Astrid almost ran into him, splashing coffee down the side of the paper cups.

"Probably nothing."

"Probably?"

"Well, the lab's on fire. But Walter's in there, I can hear him, so, you know?" Peter shrugged.

"Fire? What?"

Astrid stepped aside Peter and ran up to the door, spilling more coffee along the way.

"Walter?" she cried as she burst into the lab, suddenly having enough hands to successfully balance the coffee and bag while opening a door at the same time.

The lab wasn't on fire, an animal was. Or more accurately, an animal was shooting fire around the lab from his mouth while Walter looked on from the side, dancing excitedly.

"Look! Look what you can do! And still so young! You're the best thing I've created!"

"Thanks, Walter," Peter said sarcastically.

"Oh, you're back! Did you bring me something? Coffee with cinnamon?" he asked, eyeing Astrid's coffee tray.

"Walter. What have you done?"

"Don't look so horrified, my dear. I created life!"

Peter took the coffee tray and bag from Astrid, who could only stand and stare at the scene: an animal with the heads of a goat and a lion, the lion's body and the tale of a snake sat on a lab table, snorting smoke from it's nostrils and hissed balls of fire into the air.

"It's a chimera," Peter said mono-toned, eyes wide in horror. He grabbed Astrid by the shoulders and pulled her away from the fire ball that went soaring in their direction.

"It's a baby chimera, Peter, and a talented one for it's age, if I do say so. I named him Homer!"

"The she-goat's a he?"

"Homer's hungry! Astrid? Astrid, go find him something to eat from our mini fridge."

Without blinking, Astrid side-stepped out of the way, in search of something that would satisfy Homer; Gene ducked her head below her feeding trough.

"Walter, how on earth did you do this?"

"Use your imagination, son!"

"Psychedelics."

"No... well yes, a few, but the rest was a matter of biology." Walter's eyes glinted at the memory.

"All I could find was some bacon... it's not cooked though..."

"That'll do just fine, my dear! Thank you!" Walter unwrapped the package and offered it to Homer. The beast eyed the offering carefully and in one sudden gulp, consumed the whole thing, Walter's arm included.

"Walter!" Astrid cried, running towards Walter. Peter grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her back.

"You don't want to get too close to that thing," he said to her.

"It's fine, it's fine. Homer! Let go of daddy this instant!"

All except the snake-tail, Homer stopped moving. He paused; the lion and goat eyes stared into Walter's, dropping his arm seconds later.

Walter nodded. "As we can see, he enjoys bacon. Let's all keep a relative distance from him seeing as he still needs to learn the subtle differences between bacon and human flesh. Come, let us clean this place up before Agent Dunham arrives and so we can have lunch."

"Before I what?"

"Oh, Agent Dunham! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Walter...!"

"Don't worry, it's name is Homer. He's only a baby chimera, not an adult chimera, and he likes bacon, not people." Peter explained to the horrified FBI agent.

"You know, he's kinda cute..."

"Astrid. Please. Don't encourage him."

"No, really, if you don't stare at the snake tail for too long, he's really kinda cute."

"He likes toes!" Walter bellowed from the other side of the lab.

Peter rubbed his hands over his head. "I don't even want to know."

"Look!" Walter ran out to the others, pointing at his bare feet. "He likes to lick people's toes, which is wonderful news. Everyone! Off with your shoes and socks!"

"You know, Walter, I think we need to go get more coffee."

"Astrid's right, Walter. We're almost out."

"I think I'll stay," Olivia said slowly, taking off her jacket.

"What?" Peter whispered harshly into her ear. "This is an easy out for you."

"I know, but you know... the toe thing." She wrinkled her nose, smiling happily.

"Fine! You're more than welcome to stay, Agent Dunham. Astrid, bring back some more bacon too, we're almost out."

"Right, okay, Walter. Bacon and coffee."

"I'm going to start calling before I come here," Astrid said once they she and Peter were safely out the door with their shoes and socks securing their feet.

"I keep telling you that's what you need to do."

"You just be happy you don't have to go home with him at night."

"Like you'd mind that," Peter muttered.

"Okay, enough of that," Astrid said blushing, looking everywhere but Peter's direction. We need to get some coffee. I may need a whole pot."


End file.
